سیالکوٹ ایک تاریخی اور ادبی خطہ رہا ہے۔ اس کی تاریخ پانچ ہزار سال پر محیط ہے۔ سیالکوٹ تاریخی ، جغرافیائی ، ثقافتی،سماجی،تہذیبی،علمی اور ادبی لہاظ سے دوسرے عالمی ادبی شہروں سے کم نہیں۔سیالکوٹ کو اقبال و فیض کے مولد ہونے کا بھی لازوال فخر حاصل ہے۔ بقول گوپی چند نارنگ :
’’ بیسویں صدی کے اردو ادب کو سیالکوٹ کھا گیا نصف اوّل اقبال اور نصف دوم فیض‘‘۔
سیالکوٹ کی مٹی بڑی زرخیز اور مردم خیز ہے ۔ سر زمینِ سیالکوٹ نے علم و ادب اور فنونِ لطیفہ کے میدانوں میں گراں قدر خدمات سر انجام دی ہیں۔ داغ دہلوی اور اقبال کے کئی شاگرد سیالکوٹ کے رہنے والے تھے۔ اقبال و فیض کے علاوہ ارض اقبال میں متعدد مشاہیر پیدا ہوئے جن کے شعری و نثری سرمائے میں آ فاقی موضوعات ، اصناف اور اسالیب موجود ہیں۔ اس طرح خطہء سیالکوٹ کا تخلیقی ادب عالمی ادب کے ہم پلہ ہے۔ راقم الحروف نے اپنی تخلیق بعنوان’’ ارضِ اقبال ۔ آ فاقیت کے آ ئینے میں‘‘ سیالکوٹ سے منسلک مختلف شعرا و ادبا کی ادبی خدمات کا تحقیقی و تنقیدی جائزہ لیا ہے۔ یہ تحقیقی وتنقیدی جائزہ ادبی خدمات کے علاوہ ادبی رجحانات، ادبی اصناف، اسالیب اور اقبال شناسی کے حوالے سے بھی ہے۔
یہ تصنیف پندرہ مقالات پر مشتمل ہے ۔ جس میں حوالہ جات ، حواشی اور تعلیقات کا خاص خیال رکھا گیا ہے۔ یہ مقالات ہائر ایجوکیشن کمیشن اسلام آباد ،پاکستان کے منظور شدہ ریسرچ جرنلز میں شائع ہو چکے ہیں۔
ڈاکٹر نصیر احمد اسد
سیالکوٹ، پنجاب، پاکستان
Local farming is, indeed, the most important sector of agriculture through which farmers grow food. However, owing to their weak financial conditions, they are not able to get maximum benefits from their labours for most of the times. The case of Pakistani farmers, particularly in rural areas of KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), is not different in this connection. They frequently resort to formal and informal sources of financing to accomplish their basic agricultural requirements: both crops and non-crops inclusive. However, all these sources advance financing facility on interest basis. Being typical Muslims, such agricultural credit is, therefore, avoided by these farmers and, as a result, they always endure on their financial grounds. In such situations, some substitute arrangements are recommended to reciprocate with their problems. This alternative is offered by Sharī‘ah through various commercial transactions – among which participatory based transaction i.e. Mushārakah is the most suitable and important one. In the present work, various models are proposed on the basis of such transaction to fulfill various agricultural requirements of farmers, living in rural areas of KP. In addition, such models are structured in the light of basic theory, available in the classical literature of Islamic law, in order to make them more Sharī‘ah based rather Sharī‘ah compliant. The proposed models are then, at the second stage, tested at ground level to strengthen further their viability for all stake holders. Findings show that all agricultural requirements, particularly heavy machinery and transport, can be realized through such models provided if they are applied in their true spirit. Moreover, content analysis and focused group technique of qualitative research have been used, as a research methodology, for the investigation of the issue in the present work.
Institutional investors should not be treated as homogeneous group of investors. The present study has segmented institutional shareholders in different classes. It explores the role played by different institutional investors in improving firm performance, investment efficiency and corporate governance mechanisms across diversified industries of Pakistan. Panel data estimation techniques are applied on a sample that include firms from chemical industry, food and personal care-products industry, sugar and allied industry, textile industry, cement industry, auto industry, power generation and distribution sector and miscellaneous industries for a period of ten (10) years i.e. from 2006 to 2015. Data for the purpose of analysis is collected on different accounting measures, corporate governance indicators and shareholding pattern from the annual reports of non-financial firms. An explorative analysis of the existing corporate governance mechanisms is provided for the firms by using a multivariate statistical technique i.e. factor analysis. Factor analysis is used not only for constructing the index but it also identifies the most important and the least important attributes of the corporate governance mechanisms in Pakistan. The findings confirm that institutional shareholders follow passive strategies and do not exercise the ownership rights attached to their shares. The average institutional ownership of stocks across different industries is less than the required minority percentage. Proportion of institutional investors’ shareholding is an important determinant in capturing their incentives for effective monitoring. Banks own substantial minority shares in most of the industries but still are reluctant in improving firm-level governance mechanisms or in monitoring managerial actions. The assessment of corporate governance mechanisms through factor analysis and pattern matrix confirms that the most important determinant of the existing corporate governance framework for non-financial firms in Pakistan is family ownership. Overall, the findings of the study facilitate not only the regulatory bodies and policy makers in understanding the essential determinants of good governance for non-financial firms in Pakistan but also provide directions for future empirical research on ownership structure, firm performance and corporate governance.